Tuesday, September 22, 2009

All those problems will "Wash Away"

This is one of the cutest commercials that I've seen in a long time. The commercial is for Dawn. The ad sends a message that Dawn is so gentle that it can wash away the oil spills that trap innocent animals, without hurting them at the same time. It also urges people to buy Dawn, because a part of the profit will be donated for this cause.

But the directors of the ad did a great job with the production elements (and most specifically, with the color and the music).

COLOR:The entire commercial is situated on a blue background that is supposed to resemble a clear blue water of the ocean. The fact that the blue background isn't dark but light, makes the entire scene more relaxed and calm. Also, because the blue background is so vivid, it makes the animals in the commercial even more lively.

BACKGROUND MUSIC:The choice of the background music was simply perfect! As the commercial starts off, the audience see a duck covered in the oil spill, while we hear "I got troubles although, not today" as the background music. This reinforces the idea that even though the duck is hurt by the oil spill, the problems will soon go away. And then as the person used Dawn to wash the oil spill off the duck's feathers, the audience hear the background song lyrics: "'Cause they're gonna wash away." And as the commercial nears the end, we hear the still cheerful background music (which seems to be played by an ukulele- which also happens to symbolize a cheerful state of mind) and we see other sea creatures like the sea otter and the penguin being happy, after the oil spill were washed away from their fur and feathers.

I just simply love this commercial. Not only is it cute because it shows these three cute animals being helped, it also reminds me of the always-fun bath time that younger kids simply adore. And I'm sure that with that specific background color, the specific cheerful music, and the imagery of a bubble bath, this Dawn commercial definitely reached its desired audience (housewives who are conscious of the environmental issues, as well as mothers whose young children might be charmed by the cute animal actors), and became a success.